Airplane wing



July 30,- 194.0- F, TUPTA l 2,209,863

AIRPLANE WING E. 5 BY W M0415 ATTORNEY.

July 30,1940. 'F.TUPTA l2,209,863

AIRPLANE WING Filed Deo. 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1N VENTOR.

www' Mmm W ATTRNEY.

F. TUPTA AIRPLANE WING July 30, 1940.

Filed Deo. 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 kaffa.

R O T. N E V m BY v i w ma.

ATTORNEY.

Patented July 30, 1940 UNITED sfr/rifles.

masts PATE-NT OFFICE AIRAPLAN E VWING l Frank Tupta, Cleveland, Ovhio Application December 22, 1937, Serial No. 181,098 .y

Y I 4 o'1aims. (o1. 244-42) y My invention relates generally to laviation and more particularly to a new type of wing for airplanes and means for controlling the same.

An object of my invention istocprovide for controlling an airplane by means of which greater eflciency and safety in operation my be obtained.

Another object of my invention is to enable the airplane to gain in speed against a strong wind and to obtain buoyancy .at a lower speed than has heretofore been accomplished.

Another object kof my invention is the provision of a construction of devices on an airplane wing to insure fasten-safer, and more convenient travel of the airplane through the air.

Another object of my inventionr is the. provision of movable nose devices along the front edge of the airplane wing so that the removable nose devices may beof any shape desired depending upon theair requirements.

Another object of my invention is vto provide for reducing the gummy air stream on the wing in straight ilight, for increasing the lifting power when the airplane is rising and for increasing thegliding power when the plane is landing.

Another object of my invention is the provision of mounting pivotally arranged floaters along the front edge of the airplane wing and thereby establish high pressurespeed floaters.

Another object of my invention is the provision of establishing a vacuum on the upper or lower surfaces of -the airplane wing by means of high pressure speed floaters mounted along the forward edge of the airplane wing.

Another object of my invention-is the proto increase the speed, protect the lplane when landing and increase the lifting power and to prevent the airplane fromgoing into a nose dive.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a flexible side bottom for the airplane wing to give better control of the airplane than theretofore obtained in prior devices.-

Another object` of my invention is to provide for controlling the exible bottom side of an airplane wing by means of a manually operated control lever.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a balanced pair` of .pivoted ailerons on the tip of the airplane wing and alpair vof pivoted ailerons on the rear of the airplane wing.

Another object of my invention is the provision of control means for operating the ailerons either separately or in unison and vthus give greater stearing power to the plane, acting in cooperation with movable oaters placed on the forward edge of the wing and a flexible bottom of the wing to preserve the balance of the plane and to prevent the occurrence of a tail spin.

Other objects and a fuller understanding may ybe had by referring to the following description vision of a wing having a flexible side surface and claims, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings inV which like parts are designated bylike referencecharacters and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an airplane embody-l :5s

ing thefeatures of my. improved wing;

Figure 2 is a lfragmentary-view of a portion of the wingembodying the features of my invention and 'showing the control meansfor actuating a movable pivoted aileron Winer Y Figure 3 is a fragmentaryand enlarged partly cross-sectionalview vtaken along the line k3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary and enlarged partly l. cross sectional View yof movable floaters mounted along theA forward edge of my improved wing;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of Figure`4 taken .alongthe line 5 5 thereof; j

, Figure 6A is a'. sidelelevational ViewofA an aire 2 planej embodying Ithe features Yof myirnproved wingg. y

Figure 7 is. a' fragmentary and enlarged plan view showing movable floaters and movable nose devices mounted along the forward edge lof my 2 improved. wing;

Figure8 is aV cross-sectional` view taken along thelineoS-Bpf Figure 7; y n

Figure 9` is a `fragmentary frontviewl of the front edgeV of my improved wing showing ythe 3 on, the rear of the 1Q locking means formovably locking the front nose i devices to the front edge of my improved wing;

Figure V10 is. a. fragmentary View. of my improved wingwith the top removedto showthe actuating means for exingthe bottom of my im- 3 proved wing; l, y Y, f Figure 11 is a cross-.sectional view taken along the lineH-ll ofFigure 10,*.showing the flexv ible bottom in its novel position;

Figure12 isaview similar to Figure 11 but v40 showingk the flexibley bottom of the wing in a ilexedposition;

li'igureilshows an' enlarged view of the control lever for actuating .the movable aileronson the tip of .thawing and the movable ailerons on 45 therear edge ofthe wing; A V

Figure ,14,is an enlarged View of the control leverffonactuating the movable vloaters positioned along the frontl edge ofmy improved wing;

Figure 15- is jan-enlarged vewfof the control` lever for4 actuating c the proved wing;

Figure 16 isa plan view of my entire improved wingembodyinga modif-led arrangement for the flexing of the bottom of. my wing;

flexiblevbottom of my imf Figure 17 is a fragmentary view of the lforward' edge of the wing shown in Figure 16, withr the movableiloaters and the movabley nose devices removed;

Figure 18 isa cross-sectional View of the wing, 6

link hinges 58 and 59 are l.of rocker arms and levers `of the levers 62 and 63 which are in turn controlled by the pair of cables 38 and39, as clearly taken along the line |8-I8 of Figure 16 showing the flexible bottom of the wing in its normal position;

Figure 19 is a View similar to 18 showing the flexible bottom of the wing iiexed upwardly; and

Figure 20 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 8 showing a nose device having a different shape than that shown in Figure 8.

With reference to Figure 1 of the drawings, my improved wing is indicated generally by the reference character 25 and in this embodiment, is constructed of two wing sections 21 and 28 which are suitably mounted to opposite sides of the fuselage 26 of the airplane. As illustrated, the tip of the wings are provided with pivotally mounted ailerons 29 and 3| and the rear edge of the wings on opposite sides of the fuselage 26 are provided with pivotally mounted ailerons 30 and 32. A control lever 33 is arranged to actuate the pivotally mounted ailerons 29 and 3| mounted upon the tip of the wing and the pivotally mounted ailerons 30 and 32 mounted along the rearedge of the wing on opposite sides of the fuselage 26. The control means between the lever 33 and the pivotally mounted ailerons is shown diagrammatically by the dotted lines. For example, the control means indicated by the pair of dotted lines 34 and 35 is arranged to control the movement of the pivotally mounted. aileron 29; the control means indicated by the pair of dotted lines 36 and 31 is arranged to control the pivotal movement of the aileron 3|; the control means indicated by the pair of dotted lines 38 and 39 is arranged to control the pivotal movement of the aileron 30; and the control means indicated bythe pair of dotted lines 46 and 4| is arranged to control the movement of the aileron 32. The control means indicated by the dotted lines and governed by the control lever 33 is such that when the control lever 33 is in one position, the ailerons 29 and 3|) may be inclined upwardly and the ailerons 3| and 32 may be inclineddownwardly, and when the control lever 33 is in a'second position, the ailerons 29 and 30 may be inclined downwardly and the ailerons 3| and 32 may be inclined upwardly, and when the control lever 33 is in a third position, all of the ailerons 29, 36, 3| and 32 may be inclined upwardly, and when the control lever 33 is in a fourth position, all of the ailerons 29, 30, 3| and 32 may be inclinedA downwardly. 30, 3|an'd 32 may be independently operated or they may be operated in unison to provide proper control for the airplane. l

The pivotal hinge means .for "mounting the Vailerons to the airplane wing and fo r controlling the movement of the aileronsv are all alike as shown with reference to the aileron 30 in Figures 2 and 3. The pivotal hinge means is effected by Ameans ofv link hinges 58v and `59.which are slidably mounted insuitable sleeves 66 and 6| provided inthe rear aileron supporting member 51. The controlled by a system through the movement shown in Figure 2. Thus, for example, when the lever 62 is actuated to the left asshown by the arrow line, the link hinges 5.9 are drawn to the `right as indicated by the arrow lines, and when, ,for example, the lever 63 is actuated to the right as indicated by the arrow line, the link hinges 58 are actuated to the left as indicated by the arrow lines, and the cooperative movement of the hinges 58 and 59 cause the pivotally mounted aileron 36 to be inclined downwardly as shown in Figure 3. When the levers 62 and 63 are actuated to their reverse positions, the aileron 30 is inclined upwardly to a position opposite to that shown in Figure 3. Therefore, the'ac'tuatio'nl ofthe control lever 33 and the pair of cables 38 and 39 may govern the pivotal movement of the aileron 30. The control of the other ailerons 29, 3| and 32 and the construction of the link hinges are the Same as that shown with reference to the aileron 3U, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

To provide better control for the airplane, I provide for mounting on opposite sides of the fuselage and along the front edge of the wing sections 21 and 28 movable floaters shown generally invFigure A1 by the reference characters 41 and 48. 'I'hese floaters 41 and 48 reduce the gummy air on the wing in straight ight, increase the lifting power when the plane is rising and increase the gliding power when landing. A fragmentary andenlarged view of the floater 48 is shown in Figures 4 and 5, but it is understood that the construction of the floater 41 is the same as that shown in- Figures 4 and 5. The oaters 41 and 48 are controlled by the control lever 49 through means of suitable cable connections indicated by the pair of cables 50 and 5| respectively. The descriptionvwill be directed to the floater 48 butit is to be understood that the description applies equally well to the floater 41,

The floater 48 comprises an arcuate upper surface and an arcuate lower surface and the rear edges of the upper and lower surfaces are wider than the width of the forward edge of the wing. The forward end of the floater 48 is connected to la pivoted 'structure 16 by means of a suitable nut 1| threadably engaging fa threaded member extending through the forward end of the floater 48. The'pivoted structure 16 is pivotally mounted at its forward end by means of a pivoted connection 1|! to a bracket 69. The rear end of the bracket 69 iss'utably connected to the forward substantiallyflat face of the wing 28. The floater extends for a substantial distance along the front edge of the wing and thus, the pivoted structures 16 and the brackets 69 are spaced apart as shown in Figure 4. A shaft 12 extends between the two spaced Ibrackets-69 and is actuated by a rocker arm 13 governed by the pair of cables 5|. Mounted on opposite sidesof the spaced brackets 69 and connected to the shaft 12 are actuating members 14 to which` are attached connecting links 15 which actuate the pivoted structure 16 about the pivoted connection 18. The inside of the floate'r 48 is provided with projecting guide members 11 which suitablyt in openings in the pivoted structure 16-so that when the threaded nut 1| is turned on tight, the oater 48 moves pivotally upon the pivoted means 10. By the arrangement shown in Figure when the rock shaft 12 is actuated in a counter-clockwise direction, the top surface of the floater is moved away from the upper edge of the wing and the lower surface of the floater fits into a shoulder 68 in the front supporting member 61. This is the position shown in Figure 5. When the rock shaft 12 is actuated in a clockwise direction, the top 4edge of the floater fits in the shoulder 68 upon the top edge of the wing and the lower surface of the floater is moved away from the lower surface of the wing and is opposite to that shown, in Figure 5. Therefore, the floater 48 may be moved relative to the forward edge of the wing to cause Va vacuum either above or below the wing surface to provide better control ofthe airplane. The

floater may be referred to as high'pressure speed oaters and they provide for reducing the gummy air streams on the Wing in straight flightrand for increasing the lifting power when lrising and the gliding power when landing. 'Ihe floaters 41 and 48 may be of any desired contour to accommodate air requirements. i

Positionedbetween the floaters 4`|` and 48 and the fuselage 26 are removablenose devices 80 and 8|. These nose devices may havel any desired shape to meet yair requirements `and `aserige's of them may be provided, such, for lexample,.asthe shape shown in Figure 8 and the shape shownin Figure 20 and may be interchangeable to meet air requirements. The following description will'be directed to the removable lnose piece 8|, but itis understood that the description, applies to the removable nose piece 80. The rearged'ge'of the removable nose piece 8| is arranged 'to fit into the shoulders 68 provided -along the front edge .of the supporting member 61 of the wing., Inside of the nose piece 8| is a cross bar 82 suitably provided at its end with connections to the inside of the nose piece 8|. Projecting from the front edge supporting member 61 of the wing area plurality of projecting' supports 84 which` pivotally carry latch hooks 83, see Figures '7, 8, and 9.l The latch hooks 83 are arranged toengagethe latch rods 82 so that the removabley nose pieces 8 I may be readily locked in place along the front edge of the wing. Asillustrated in Figures "I andfQ. the-pivoted latch hooks 83 are actuated by cable 86 which runs along the forward edge of the wing and is actuated at its left-hand end Ibyan overcenter lever- 84 pivotally connected to the liront edge supporting member 61 underthe iloater. Therefore, when mounting the removable nose piece 8|, it is only necessary to actuatethe overcenter lever 85 in a counter-clockwise"direction and loosen the. slack upon the cable 88, after which the removable nosepiece may be arranged in position. After the removable nose piece is arranged in position. theover-center lever is actuated ina clockwise direction Iand draws the cable 86 tightand holds the pivot-ally mounted latch hooks `83 in their locked position as shown in Figure '7. A stop pin 81 is arranged to prevent the over-center lever` 8.5:from turning 'clockwise beyond a certain point as shownin Figure 9. Inasmuch as the lever 85 is an over-center lever, it remains in its over-center position until the person -actuatesit in a counter-,clockwise direction to relieve the` tension onv the cable 86. After the removable nose piece 8| ls locked in position the floater 48 may be mounted on the pivoted structure 16 b-y means of the nut, 1|. Thus, by means of .the locking arrangement, r,nose devices of any suitable shape,..such as shown by reference character 88 in Figure 20 orthe reference character 8| in Figure 8. may be vapplied to the front edge of my wing.` An enlarged view of the control lever 49 for actuating the floaters A41 and 48 is shown in Figure 14 and is arranged to have a forward and reverse position'. giving the two relative positions of the floater 48'as shown in Figure 5. l

Around the forward end of the wing section 21 and 28, I provide for mountingmovable front nose devices 89 and 90, as shown in Figure l.. These removable nose devices may bemounted by means of screws indicated by the reference character 9|. Therefore, the .entire front forward. edge of my improved wing is arranged to have removable devices which may be interchanged to accommodate air conditions.

The arrangement of the flexible bottom ysurface of my wing is shown in Figures 10, 11 and 12, and as illustrated l'at spaced intervals throughout the longitudinal length of the wing, there are provided a plurality of main supportingmeans 9B', top supporting members 95, and bottom supporting members 98. The front end ofi the .supporting members are suitably connected to theV front edge supporting member 61. Supported upon the top supporting members isv a top surfacev means indicated by the reference character .91'. Supported on the bottom supporting member 98 is bottom surface means 99.v The top and bottom surf-ace means 91 and 99 may be of any suitable construction as now employed in airplane construction.- I v The bottom supporting member 98 and the bottom surface means 99 is flexible as shown in Figure I2, and thus the forward ends of thev bottom supporting members 98 are slidably -mounted in the front .edge supporting member 'I6 and` ithe rearward ends of the bottom supporting member 98 are-fulcrumed at |0|. As illustrated, I provide for central pivot levers |02 and rearward pivot levers |03 for constraining the flexing of the bottom surface of the wing. The central pivot levers |02 and the rearward vpivot levers |03 are interconnected by rods |04, and the central pivot levers |02 are connected to rods |05, which rods in turn are connected to bell cranks |06,-which are actuated by the longitudinal control rod 53 from the control lever 52, see Figure '1. A large view of the control lever 52 is shown in Figure 15 and it is arranged such-that when the longitudinal control rod 53 in Figure l0 is actuated to the right, the' central pivot levers 02 lift the central portion of the flexible bottom wing and the rear pivot levers |03 force the rear end of the bottom surface of the wing downwardly as shown in Figure 12. During the flexing ofthe bottom surface of the wing, the bottom supporting members 98 fulcrum about the fulcrum means |00 `and the forward ends of the bottom supporting members 98 slide in the grooves in the front edge supporting member -6`|. The central pivot levers |02 and therear pivot levers |03 may be pivotally mounted on longitudinal pivot rods |0|.and |08 respectively, which extend longitudinally ofthe wing. The rear longitudinal supporting member for the wing is indicated by the reference character iandextends longitudinal of the rear edge of the wing, andthe rear edge of the flexible bottom is. arranged to substantially coincide therewith when in the unflexed position as shown in-Figure 11. In the flexed position as shown in Figure 12, the rearward edge of the flexible bottom extends below the longitudinal rear supporting member |00. The control of the flexible bottom is arranged to give increased lifting power and in cooperation with the other controlmeans preserves the balance of the plane and prevents the occurrence of atail spin. In Figure-16, I show a complete wing embodying the features of my invention and in. this embodiment, the vfloaters 41 and 48 are the same as that described with reference to the previous views of the invention. Intermediate the two floaters 4'! and48 is a central removable nose device |2 and upon opposite ends of the wings and alongthe forward edge are two removable nose devices ||3 and ||4. These removable nose devices ||2, ||3 and I4 `are arranged to be locked on to the forward edge of the wing by means of the latch hooks 03 controlled by over-center lever 85 'substantially in 'the same manner as that previouslyffdescribed Aures 12 and 19.

with reference-to the other views of my invention. Therefore, in this complete wing shown in I6, the entire forwardedge may be provided with removable nose devices of various shapes in order to meet the requirements of the air. The Figure 17 shows the front edge of my improved wing in 16, with the floaters 41 and 48 removed, together Withthe removable nose devices I I2, I I3, and II4.

My improved wing shown in Figure 16 is arranged to have a flexible bottom between the longitudinal members H5 and the forward longitudinal member 16. The portion of the wing between the longitudinal member II5 and the rear -of the wing is arranged to be fixed. Central levers II8 pivoted to the main longitudinal means 96 is arranged to lift the flexible bottom upwardly as the central levers II8 are actuated in a clockwise direction such as shown in Figure 19, and the forward ends of the bottom mem- .fbers- II6 slidev in the grooves in the front edge supporting member 16 to allow for the flexing. The amount of the flexing of the bottom surface of the wing shown in Figure 19 is not so pronounced as that shown in Figure 12 but the purpose of the flexing of the bottom surface of .the wing is the same. Therefore, in my improved Wing, I have shown means for giving complete operation of the airplane including the actuation of the ailerons 29, 30, 3l, and 32, the floaters 41 and 48. and the flexible bottom as shown in Fig- Therefore, my new wing accomplishes a large number of objects which render an airplane embodying my wing construction more eicient and less dangerous to operate. The control levers 49 and 52 are arranged to be set at any fixed position by biasing the levers away from their quadrants and inserting a projection on the levers in the registered openings of the quadrants. Therefore, the lever 49 for the floaters' mayy be set to hold the floaters in the up, down or neutral positions. The lever 52 maybe set to give any degree of flexing to the flexible bottom.

vAlthough I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination' and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope 'ofthe invention as hereinafter claimed. t If claimv as my invention:

v1.v In an airplane wing, in combination, a plu- "rality of spaced main supporting means extending from the front edge to the rear edge of the wingfa plurality of spaced top supporting members extending from the front edge to the rear Yedge of the wing, longitudinal front and rear edge supporting members connected with the ends of the main supporting means and the top support- 'ing members, top surface means provided on the top supporting members and constituting the top surface of the wing, a plurality of spaced bottom supporting members extending from the front edge to the rear edge of the wing, the front end of the said bottom supporting members engaging the front longitudinal supporting member, a

fulcrum member extending longitudinally of the `wing and spaced from the rear longitudinal supporting member, said fulcrum member engaging theA main'supporting means, the rearward por- -tion'of -the bottom members pivotally engaging the fulcrum member, bottom surface means pro- .yided on the bottom supporting members and constituting the bottom surface of the wing,

means connectedfbetween theimain supporting means and the bottom supporting members for moving the bottom supporting members relative to the main supporting members-and causing the bottom supportingmembers torock on the fulcrum member, and control .means governing the connecting means.

2. In an airplane wing construction, in combination, a front edge supporting member, a rear edge supportingmember, a top wing surface connected to said front and rear edge supporting members, a bottom supportingv member slidably engaging said front edge supporting member, a bottom wing surfaceconnected to said .bottom supporting member, main supporting means engaging ysaid front edge `supporting memberand said rear edge supporting member and positioned between said top wing surface and said bottom wing surface, a first pivot lever attached to said main supporting means near the lateral center of the said wing and adapted to engage said bottom supportingmember, a second pivot lever attached to said main supporting means near the rear edge supporting member and adapted to engage said bottom supporting member, and control means for actuating4 said .first and second pivot levers to .flex the bottom supportingmember and. alter theshape o f the bottom surface of the said wing, said slidablefengagement between said bottom .supporting member and said front edge supporting member 'causing said bottom supporting member to, slide with respect to said front edge supporting. member as saidy bottom supporting member is4 flexed.

3. In an airplane wing, in combination, a plurality of spaced main supporting means extending laterally through the wing, a pluralityv of lat-y eral bottom members, longitudinal front and rear edge supporting members engaging said main supporting means .and said bottom members, surface means provided on the lateral bottom members and constitutinguthe; bottom surface of the Wing, a fulcrum member for said lateral bottom member, a first pivot lever mountedon said main supporting means andengaging said lateral bottomnmembenasecond pivot lever mounted on said main supporting means and engaging said lateral bottom member, and .control means for actuating said first and second pivot levers to flex said lateral bottom member about said fulcrum point to alter the bottom surface of said wing.

4. In an airplane wing construction, in combination, a front edgemember, a rear edge member, a top wing surface connected to said 4front and rear edge members, a bottom wing surface comprising a central portion and a front end portion and a rear end portion, said front end portionbeinguconnected tofsaid front edge member, internal supporting V means positioned between said top and bottom Wing surfaces and FRANKy frUP'rA. 

